If you have been reading my recent automotive reviews, you are well aware that all new vehicles have numerous standard safety features. One e such component is tire pressure monitoring (TMPS).
Tires that are at the proper level of pressure are safer and they provide better gas mileage – both are indeed good! However, …
Every now and then I stop to deliver a coffee and talk cars with a German mechanic at Alfred’s Foreign Car. Alfred is in his early 80s (before coming to the United States, he worked as a Porsche mechanic in Germany).
We were talking about changing tires and how expensive it will be if the tire pressure monitoring sensor needs to be replaced as part of the job. In some instances, the tire pressure monitoring light will come on due to just a temperature changes. If a new sensor or even the O rings in the tire valve are replaced, the tire pressure monitoring system needs to be reset.
The first question that comes to my mind is what ever happened to taking five minutes each month to check the tire pressure? That was ‘tire monitoring’ that served the driver and driving machine well. There was little or no cost involved and all was fine.
Now, more time and money are involved with tires, but is the end result any better?
Lexus is coming out with a ‘complicated’ variable ratio power steering system. However, excellent power rack and pinion steering systems has already been achieved (goal obtained).
Whatever happened to the simple driver involvement that kept man and machine working well?
There is an old saying: If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it! I say rather than fixing it, drive it and have fun doing so!
Kyle Busch is the author of “Drive the Best for the Price: How to Buy a Used Automobile, Sport-Utility Vehicle, or Minivan and Save Money.” He welcomes your comments or car questions at his newly redesigned auto web site at: www.drivethebestbook.com or www.cartown1.com. Follow Kyle on Facebook and Twitter.
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